Vending machine



Y 'C. s. SMITH VENDING MACHINE Filed April 27. 1925 agg. 2.

/ 4 5 /N VENTO/e.

/ """mf'n" l Patented Feb. 9, 192.46. p UNITED STATES A 1,572,090 PATENT OFFICE.

CLARENCE S. SMITH, KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, ASSIG'NORI TO THE BLUE BIRD PRODUCTS COMPANY, ,OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, A CORPORATION OF MISSOURI.

` VENDING MACHINE.

Application :filed April 27, ,1925. Serial No. 26,101.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, CLARENCE S. SMITH, a citizen'of the United States, residing at Kansas City, in the county of Jackson and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vending Machines; and I do declare the following to be a full,

clear, and exact description of the invention,

such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, and to the figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this application.

My invention relates to vending machines, and has for its primary object to provide an automatic vending device of that character whereby the kind or amount of merchandise,

may be determined by the skill of thepurchaser, thereby adding an element of amusement to the vending operation and' stimulat-` mg the sales of the merchandise.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, skill of the purchaser is employed in the direction of the coin orgtoken whereby release of kthe merchandise is controlled, although it will be apparent that control ot' the merchandise may be effected in the samemanner without departing from the spirit of the invention.

The novel construction of the'- invention will be specifically described hereinafter, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in whichv Fig. 1 is a perspective view ofthe ball gum vending machine and a game device associated therewith.

. or closure 3, the lower edge of which is re-v ceived in a groove 4 in the bottom 5 of the case. The upper edge of the door or closure 3 isxprovided with a lock 6, the bolt 7 of which may be received in a recess 8 inthe tcp 9 of the case.

In the rear of the transparent panel'2 is a panel 10, parallel with the panel 2 and on it is a channel-shaped movable chute l1, piV-. oted to the panel 10 at 12. The upper end of the chute ll aligns with a check or token receiving slot 13 in the top 9. The chute 11 is provided with an outstanding ear 14 to receive the flat eind 15of a manually operated rodv 16 which is secured thereto by a fastening device 17. The rod 16 extends through 'One side of the case and has a. knob or button 18 adapted to be grasped by the hand of vthe player to move it and to impart motion to the chute 11 by imparting Aa longitudinal movement to the rod 16.

Below the rod 16 on the panel 10 are pins 19, 2o, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 and 26. The pins 19 and 20 are spacedthe same distance apart asv the pins 21 and 22, the pins 19 and 21 being in vertical alignment as are also they pins 2O and 22. The pins 24 and 25 are in vertical alignment and the pins 23 and 26 are in vertical alignment, but the pin 23 is spaced above the pin 24.- The check or token 27 may be discharged from the chute 11 sothat it will fall between the pins 23 and 24 and between the pins 25 and 26; in which event it will drop which discharges outside the case, as indi-- cated at 29. l

- The check or token may also be discharged between the pins 19 and 20 or 2l and 22 to unobstructedly drop' into the ref turn chute 28. If, however, it is discharged from the chute 11 so that it strikes any one of the pins or drops between pins 20 and into the inclined return chute 2S- 24, between pin 19 and one side of the case or betweenl pin 26 and the other side of the case, it will be received by the inclined deflecting plates 29', 30 or 31, as the case may be.V 1 j-The lower edges of the deflecting plates coincide with the lower edges of the slots 32, 33 and 34 so if the check or token is intercepted by the delector plates, it will be directed through one of the slots into the receptacle 35,' where it can be recovered only by removing the closure or back 3. i

The slot 13 may align with a discharge slot 36 in the vending machine 37 sothat when a check or token'is-placed in the re- 4ceiving slot 38,.it' will pass into the'case l. The operator may move the chute 11 at any angle between two extremes to direct the check'or token between the pins, the skill of the operator determinin where the check or token will be directe Therefore, I term the chute 1l a tickler or jiggler since it can be vibrated back or forth or laterally moved back and forth to suit the whim of the player.

It will be apparent from the foregoing "that the dirootion fouowod by tho ooin win dependentirely upon the angle of' inclina? tion of the tickler or chute 11 and that a.

ver little difference in angular degree will ma e a material diiference in the direction followed by the check or token. It will further be'apparentl that it is possible to so inclinethe chute that the check or token may be returned repeatedly r through the chute 28.

The gam'e may be played with or without Ithe vending machine vbut if associated-with a vending machine it is liable to increase the sales of the gum since the customer has the incentive to place 'the check or token inthe 'vending machine to purchase goods, gbeing attracted 'by the fact that he can play a game at the same, time;l

What' I claim and-'desire tofsecure by i Letters-Patent is 1. In combination with a vending machine, a `game devlce, comprlsmga caslng,

a panel in the casing, apivoted tickler chute in a verticalpanel in thecasing, a plurality of pins on the panel in .spaced relae tion, a returnl chute atthe lower partxof the casing, laterally overlapped by the pins,

outwardly projectin deflector wings on th casm aligning wit "the bottom edges o f slot-s 1n the panel, a pivoted tickler chute at .the upper part of the panel in line with a 3. A vending machine, comprising a casing, a vertical panel in the-casing, a plurality of pins on thepanel'in' spacedrelation, a return chute at the lower p'art of the casing, laterally overlapped by the pins, outwardly projectingl deflector wings on the casing aligning wit slots inthe panel, a pivoted tickler chute at the upper part of the panel in line with a slot in the top of the casing, and-means for actuating the tickler chute to change its angular position, said means comprising a lateral push rod having an end extending outside the casing and means on the end of the`rod whereby the rod may be manually engaged.

. 4. A vending'machine comprising a casing having an opening in its top to receive a game plece, gameelements in the casing, a pivoted chute having one end in line wit the opening to'receive and direct the game piece into the casing, and means for actuating the chute. `5. A vending machine comprising a '.casing having an openin Ain its top to receive a game piece, game e ements in the casing, a pivoted chute having one end in line with the opening to receive and direct the' the bottom edges of f game piece into the casing, and means for 80 actuating the chute.

' In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

CLARENCE SMITH. 

